Holiday LCH0701PW freezer

OK, I got one of the above freezers. It is 6.8 cubic feet. My plan is to use this in a fermentation chamber. I need to put a hole through the front. When we plugged it in, the front and sides get warm down to about 6" from the bottom. The top 10" or so gets a ring of frost inside. Does anyone know if it is safe to put a hole through this thing? I see some threads about using it for a kegerator, but nothing about fermentation. Thanks for the help - Dwain

What is the hole for?

Could you do the same as you'd do for a kegerator, and build a collar and drill the hole through that?

Scott

I will put a fan in the hole and ducting to allow me to cool an area under my workbench that I enclosed. - Dwain

Edit: I guess I'm confused. Why wouldn't you put the carboys in the chest freezer and use a temp. controller?

NORTHERN BREWER: Fermentation Temperature Control

So... you want to use the freezer as a freezer still, but also pull off some cold air to blow into the chamber you will build?

If so, I suggest going to Northern Brewer's forum and search for the guy who used a glycol bath with a fountain pump in the freezer and a transmission cooler in his chamber to cool it down. It would likely be a lot more efficient than blowing air.

Cutting a hole large enough in the front of a chest freezer would be difficult, if not impossible. The chances of hitting a coolant line are just too great. If you really feel you have to do this, I would build a collar and put the fan in the collar.

JPC,
No, the whole thing will be dedicated to being a fermentation chamber. I can fit 2, maybe 3 of my fermenters in there. Wth the space under my bench, I can have probably 3 more. This is about the ability to ferment 20-30 gallons at a time. I can build a collar, but I would prefer not to, mostly due to work area issues. Also, I have a Ranco thermostat that I will use to control the temp. Thanks for the help - Dwain

On my freezer I can gain some access by looking in where the compressor is, you might be able to find a spot that way depending on how big a hole you want to drill.

O.K., I built the fermentation chamber out of this freezer. I'll post some pix soon. So far, it seems that the freezer area stays about 10 - 15F colder than the connected chamber. I have a small fan wired in to come on and circulate the air when the compressor kicks on. The hole through the freezer and into the chamber is right at the bottom of the freezer. It is "ducted" to pull air out of the freezer and into the chamber. The other side of the duct allows the air to be pushed back into the freezer. Do ya'll think I should run the fan all of the time? The chamber is empty now. I guess I'll let it run overnight and check it in the am. Comments/suggestions? Thanks - Dwain

O.K>, here are the photos of cutting the hole. After I post them, I've got some questions:











I came out of the front because of room lay out constraints. I built a small chamber and attached this to it. I had to insulate the front very well because it gives off heat through the shell of the freezer. I have a johnson control on it with the bulb attached to a bottle of water in the chamber side. Right now, I have a small fan circulating air all of the time. Maybe I need a bigger fan. The freezer side still stays 10F-15F colder than the chamber. Also, the freezer will drop the temp down and form frost on the inside top of the freezer. Then when it warms up, a small amount of water will pool in the bottom of the freezer. I can deal with the water, but if I can't figure out how to make this temp thing equalize, I'm going to pull the freezer away from the chamber plug the hole and just have a smaller lager chamber. Any comments/suggestions are welcome. Thanks - Dwain

I have to admit, I am drooling over the # of 3 (or 2.5) gal cornies in the 3rd picture. Kinda like seeing the ones on the desperate housewives episode where there was the fire in that club. there were several 3 gal cornies that were on the rack in the room that was on fire. Homebrewing has so tainted my life...... (in a good way?) I even noticed them before the Porche!